The effort of the Lagos State Government on waste recycling and the turning of waste to wealth have been recognized by the Federal Government with an efficiency award presented to the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).

The award, which was in recognition of the agency’s efficiency in resource management, particularly in the area of waste recycling, was received the Managing Director of LAWMA, Mr. Ola Oresanya.

According to the organizers of the award, Raw Materials Research and Development Council in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, it said the award, which was the 10th in the series was to identify and encourage individual and company activities geared towards developing the nation’s vast raw materials, the statement said.

Speaking on the award, Mr. Oresanya thanked the organizers for recognizing the effort of the agency in waste recycling.

He said: “We are happy that the core objective of our Waste-To-Wealth Programme, to harness a new line of economic activities and the interested parties by providing the enabling environment for the management of resource from waste though transformation, re-use and re-distribution, is being recognized”.

Mr. Oresanya added that LAWMA had since commenced the production of inorganic fertilizer from market waste, including the processing of pure water sachet.

He noted that plastic recycling plants had been established in Ojo, Olushosun Apapa and Idimu areas of Lagos State , where waste was being converted into pellets and plastic bags.

Oresanya also said that LAWMA was the highest producer of compost in Africa with its plant at Odogunyan, Ikorodu converting over 800 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste into more than 250 bags of compost daily.

“In order to encourage waste segregation from the point of generation and subsequently strengthen recycling, LAWMA commenced the production of 1,000 recycling banks, which would be deposited strategically around the state before the end of 2011,” Oresanya said.

He called on residents not to dispose their recyclable materials indiscriminately, but to look out for community recycling banks nearest to them.